UK to ease access rules for geothermal, oil, shale gas drilling

May 23, 2014 - The British government is proposing to relax the underground drilling access rules for deep geothermal energy, shale gas and oil projects in order to save the developers time and money-consuming efforts.

In a statement on Friday the Department of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) said that under its plan, developers will need underground right of access only for operations shallower than 300 metres (1,000 ft). All other permits will still be a must. The consultation will last for 12 weeks and then the government will review the feedback and reveal its next steps.

At present a single landowner may delay or even stop drilling activities for geothermal energy, shale gas or oil by refusing rights of access. Under existing rules, shale and oil companies can refer the case to the court, which is “very likely to grant access,” the DECC says. However, for geothermal projects the process is different and if developers cannot secure access via negotiations with the objecting landowner, they must re-plan the drill path or scrap the entire project.

“The new proposals would simplify procedures which are costly time-consuming and disproportionate for new methods of underground drilling,” the DECC said in the statement. The plan also includes a voluntary GBP-20,000 (USD 33,700/EUR 24,700) one-off payment to the local community by the developer for every unique lateral well extending by over 200 metres laterally.

(GBP 1 = USD 1.684/EUR 1.236)

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